I made it to Halifax.
yesterday I woke up at 3:35am to leave the MTC by 5am. all 70 departing missionaries rode together on one big bus. About half way to the airport Elder Hawkins, Sister Elliott and I got everyone to sing hymns! imagine 70 missionaries traveling to the places they have been called to serve, after having the most spiritually intense weeks of their lives singing "calling to serve him" together... to say the least it was powerful. I loved it. it was so uplifting!
saying goodbye at the airport was SO SAD! I miss my district so badly! I love them all so much and i hope they are finding happiness and success in their missions.
as for me and Sister Ott's travel, it was the best and yet the longest day ever! It took three planes to get here, from Salt Lake to Chicago to Ottowa to Halifax. during the Chicago to Ottowa flight Sister Ott and I didn't sit together. I got to sit next to a nice guy from Texas who was about my age, we chatted about life, I got to explain to him why I was going to Halifax and then I bore my testimony to him that Jesus Christ changes people's lives then I gave him a card with "mormon.org" on it. it was awesome! I totally felt the spirit confirm what I said was true.
arriving in Ottawa was so exciting! from the moment I stepped on to Canadian soil I KNEW I was suppose to be here! Going through customs was such a wonderful adventure! and everything is in french! and the Canadian flag is everywhere (I'm still trying to get use to that). I love it though! after customs we passed by some huge windows and guess what we saw? SNOW! not just any snow, they were easily the BIGGEST and most beautiful snow I've ever seen! seriously, it was lovely!
the flight to Halifax I sat next to sister Ott so sadly no missionary experiences BUT I got to read the story of Nephi building the boat/ Joan and the whale and gained so many new insights! it was wonderful!
was arrived in Halifax just before 10pm. Pres. Simpson and his wife picked us up, took up to the mission home and then sent us to bed with strict orders to sleep in! so I didn't wake up today until 7:45am (doesn't that sound funny?) anyway, the four of us when to the temple this morning, Halifax Temple must be the smallest and cutest temple ever!
then the Sisters (sister Russo and Huppe) that are serving in Halifax picked us up and took us (me and Sister Ott) to seafood for lunch. by the way Sister Huppe's brother served in the Ogden mission at the time Jayson did!
by the way, you know you're in a foreign country when you wallet seems different because the color of the money has changed and someone tells you they like your accent, that was a new experience.
after lunch we received our area assignments, Pres. Simpson had us "open" our assignment just like a mission call, it was funny. anyway, I've been assigned to Truro with Sister Davis. apparently this area hasn't had missionaries for a while and both of us are pretty much new to it (sister Davis has been there 10 days). it is a town of 1500 people and only has a branch of about 70 members and the closest missionary will be 2 hours away. this will be great! :D
I leave at 5:30 tomorrow morning to drive there.
Facts about Halifax: it is one of the biggest geographical missions and has the smallest amount of missionaries in north America (66). The mission has mostly branches, two stakes and 2000 members. the Halifax mission use to have 210 missionaries in it (they got about 60 baptisms a year) but 2 years ago they pulled out over half of them and the baptism numbers have almost tripled! every area has a car. some areas you have to fly there. we never have Mission conferences, usually don't have zone conferences and only sometimes (every few weeks) have district conferences.
doesn't all of that sound crazy? don't worry this is where I'm suppose to be.
I'll try to write you soon to tell you my new address (the President says I'll probably be there for 8 months, so there is no point in sending anything to the Mission office).
I love you! the Gospel is SO true! I love it! The Lord is so good!
-Sister Bentley
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